MICHIGAN: FAMILY TRIP, HOLLAND, THE BEACH

The end of summer will be here before I  know it, but we just got back from our long-awaited summer vacation to Holland, Michigan! This was my first time in Michigan. The weather was mild, the beach was beautifully sandy, and downtown Holland was adorable. 

This particular part of Michigan was highly recommended to us by some local Illinois friends who have taken family vacations to Holland nearly every year. Everyone we talked to raved about Michigan, so I was excited to cross a new state off my list and get a beach trip all in one. And it was only a short 3 hours from our home which is an added plus! We traveled to a 100 year old AirBnb house with my parents and sister for our week away.

DAY 1: DOWNTOWN HOLLAND
The first day was drizzly and cozy. We didn't let it stop us from walking around the shops of downtown Holland. Samuel and I agreed that this was one of our favorite days of the trip. The sprinkle of rain made ducking into the shops, eating treats, and drinking coffee even more cozy and enjoyable. 

Some favorite shops were:

• The Peanut Store (the dark chocolate sea foam might be the best chocolate tasting thing I have ever tried)
• Reader's World bookstore
• Crane's In The City Cafe
• Big E's Sports Grill

Also on our first day of vacation, Charlie refused to take his nap and ended up totally crashing at dinner time. We woke him up to eat, but he just could nooottt peel his eyes open. So, it was an early bedtime for this guy. And some good snuggles beforehand.

DAY 2: FARMERS MARKET, SUNSET AT THE BEACH

First we stopped for coffee, went to the Holland farmer's market, and then we checked out Nelis' Dutch Village. Animals to feed, carnival rides, places to run, free cheese and chocolate samples - it was basically a kid-sized theme park.

  

Later that night we drove to Holland State Park to watch the sunset which was beautiful. This was Charlie's first time seeing waves and sand! His shoe came off while we were walking towards the water and he would NOT let his foot touch the sand at first. Like, he stood like a flamingo with a disgusted look on his face. (Hence the shoes on while we are at the water.) He eventually warmed up to the sand by our beach day. 

DAY 3: BEACH @ TUNNEL PARK

Finally we had a beach day!! It was......cold-ish. The wind was chilll-ly, but laying on a towel in the sand was actually warm and totally fine, like I may have gotten a sunburn. Charlie loved the sand (after a worrisome first sand experience!). Digging, scooping, falling over on it, laying on a Darth Vader towel, playing in his tent, he had a blast. He even liked standing at the water as it came up and back even though it was FREEZING. 

 

 

Michigan, you were lovely! We can't wait to go back again someday.

Emily

APRIL ADVENTURES: TAKING FAMILY TO CHICAGO

I'm back with more April adventures as promised!

If you read my last post about our two week trip to see family, you would know that my sister-in-law and her family will be moving very soon to a new state. They told us a while back they wanted to come see where we live now before they moved, so they came up for the last weekend of April for a quick weekend trip. Samuel's parents came too because they had not visited Wheaton since the weekend we moved here. We had 6 adults, a 6- month-old baby, and a 21-month-old all staying in our two bedroom place. It was pretty cozy, but oh so fun.

They, of course, wanted to go to Chicago while they were in town! We've lived in our new town for TEN months now, which seems so hard to believe, and we had not been to Chicago since last August. It's only about an hour away from us so that's kind of crazy, right?! It was about time we went back. 

The first time we went last year it was only Samuel, Charlie, and I who rode the train in for the day. Let me tell yall. This second trip with family was WAY more successful, enjoyable, and eventful. So keep reading for some tips and details of fun things we loved doing. 

1. Choose the right travel method. First things first, we drove instead of taking the train this time. Don't get me wrong, riding the Metra was a super fun experience that I hope to do again soon, but for a big group (we had 6 adults and 2 infants) it was just so much easier to drive exactly where we wanted to go because of strollers, diaper bags, babies, a nursing mother, etc. 

The drive into the city was not terribly bad. I had always heard how awful the traffic would be. My husband, the driver, might disagree with me but I didn't think it was all that bad. The hardest part was trying to find parking, but once we realized most places were about the same price we just settled on one. 

The cost of parking was ridiculous, so be prepared for that if you decide to drive your own car. We were there from about 11 am - 4 pm and it ended up being $37. To be fair, we parked at probably the most popular parking garage directly under Millennium Park, compared to my sister-in-law who parked about a mile away from Millennium Park and only paid $12. It truly was nice to be in a convenient spot that day even though we paid a little more for that convenience. Just to give you some perspective, when we rode the Metra it was still over $20 for our tickets. 

2. Pick just a few main destinations. Our main destination for the day was Intelligentsia Coffee. My sister-in-law was a beast at mapping out everywhere we wanted to go. The first time we went to Chicago this was not the case. We failed at planning. People, planning is the KEY to an amazing Chicago trip  because you really have no conception of just how BIG this city is. It can seriously take 30 minutes to go from top to bottom of the city. So you have know where you want to go in order to survive. 

The location of Intelligentsia we picked was just a block away from Millennium Park. Look at it HERE on the map as a reference. It was so so good, you all. I wasn't sure if I was going to love it (because I think Quills coffee back in Louisville is the worst, and I thought it would be similar) but I really loved Intelligentsia. I'm so glad we stopped in there for coffee first thing because the temperature was in the 50s, which felt like the 40s. In April!!!! Chicago winter never ends. It was nice to have a warm cup to walk around with.

After we got our coffee, we walked back over to Millennium Park for those who had not been. Is that place ever not crowded!? It kind of is one of the best photo spots, though. We grabbed a quick Panarea Bread lunch across from the park to take care of the babies diapers/feedings. 

 

Which brings me to my next tip: 

3. Plan your destinations based on what's nearby. Make your plans doable. It's not realistic to plan to go to place A, then drive to B and C. That will waste your money and your time. We walked to a nearby shopping area (essentially an indoor mall) called Block 37 which we found on the maps app. It was just a short walk from where we already were and it had a lot to see and do! We went to the Disney store, a two story Anthropologie, Magnolia Bakery (no relation to Chip and Joanna's Magnolia, but they had the BEST whipped chocolate banana pudding. Oh my.), and got a break from the cold wind being inside.

4. Go to Garret Popcorn. That's the last tip. Just go there. Get the Garret Mix with caramel and cheddar popcorn, and you will have pretty much guaranteed a successful Chicago trip. It's DELICIOUS. 

I'm definitely not an expert at Chicago travel by any means yet, but our experience from the first time was just so night and day I wanted to share the things we found helpful. 

I still have some other things on my Chicago bucket list like:

Stan's Donuts

Go to a Cubs Game

The Navy Pier 

The Skydeck at Willis Tower 

Lincoln Park Zoo

Chicago Children's Museum

Firecakes 

Oz Park 

Garfield Conservatory

Drop anything else you think we would like in the comments. I'd love to know what other things you recommend doing! 

-Emily 

APRIL ADVENTURES: TWO WEEK TRIP TO KY AND TN

Loooong time no blog! How's your start of Spring been? It's been a busy month for us, but filled with the most exciting things like family, vacation, and lots of traveling. 

When we went back home to Louisville for Christmas, we knew it would be our last time in Kentucky until April. You may not think 4 months seems that long, and really it's not, but it was the longest stretch between seeing family we had had since moving last July. And it was going to be over winter which would make it feel even longer. But come April, Samuel would be attending the T4G conference for work which, as it happens, was back in Louisville! So all three of us were going along to spend time with family for a whole week.

During that long winter like I mentioned, we found out that both of my sister-in-laws and their families would be moving this summer. It seems hard to believe that in the short span of a year, all three of the James kids would be moving to new states away from family for the first time. But each for great, God glorifying opportunities that we are so excited for! For the last few years we have been doing our James family vacation in May, but with the moves coming up, we started to wonder how we could squeeze in at least a small family vacation in April. We had this crazy idea to take the week after the conference off for the family vacation and it worked out absolutely perfectly. That's how we ended up sneaking in a TWO week trip!

The first week of our trip, which contained the 3 days of Samuel's conference, we stayed at my parents house. We did ALL the things, you guys. We had a belated Easter meal with my Mamaw and aunts and uncles, Charlie and I had a mall shopping day with Mimi and Aunt Rae Rae, Samuel and I saw A Quiet Place on a date, we had dinner with sweet friends from our pervious church, I saw one of my best friends from high school, Charlie and I got haircuts by my talented cosmetologist sister, we got pedicures, ate Steel City Pops, and played the worlds hardest game of sequence.


S N A P S H O T S  from  the  first  week

Easter// Mamaw + Charlie

Mimi reading Charlie a new book

My Favorite Muffin + Aunt Rae Rae

He was a BIG fan

We went to the Zoo with cousins and old church friends!

B O T T L E  B R O K E N  (on  accident!)

Charlie was bottle broken during this trip!!!! Color me SHOCKED. Before this trip, he was drinking basically all of his cow's milk in his bottles. He would ask for it every time and get super sad if I even thought about putting the milk in a sippy cup. He would drink his water in a sippy cup or Contigo water bottle, but not that precious milk. It had to be a bottle. Even though I was hoping to break him of it eventually, I was totally fine with him keeping the bottles until 2ish, or at least until he finished cutting his last teeth - the two year molars. Throughout teething, the bottle was his main source of comfort so I was fine with him having it until then. 

I joked to Samuel about "forgetting" to bring the bottles to see if we could break him of it, but decided the thought of having to go buy new ones in Louisville if he needed it would be silly. So I washed them and put them out to dry the morning we were schedule to leave Wheaton. That night in Louisville, I went to make Charlie his bottle before bed and I realized I DIDN'T PACK THEM. I was highly anticipating having to go get at least one bottle the next day, but would you believe it, he never asked for it. Not once in the whole two weeks. And then we came home and he still didn't ask for them. So, I hid them away and his bottle days officially ended. I was amazed how easy it turned out to be! Maybe the Lord made me forget to bring them to Louisville. ;)

  

D A T E   N I G H T 

Also squeezed into that week was Samuel and I's first night away since having Charlie. He did great spending the night with Mimi and PopPop! He's such a champ when it comes to saying goodbye to us and we are so, so thankful. We ate dinner downtown, and walked along the river at sunset. It was really special to be able to do that back in our hometown.

Louisville, Kentucky

G A T L I N B U R G  James  Family  Vacation

On Saturday we left Louisville for a 4 day trip to the Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, Tennessee for our James family vacation! That place is our go-to getaway. We stayed in a big cabin and soaked up all the family togetherness, playing games and watching The Greatest Showman for the first time. We always love to go to Cades Cove, and this time we got to see a mama and baby bear just hanging out nearby. We also went to the aquarium, played putt putt, and went out for pancakes!

Charlie had a BLAST getting to play with his cousins on this trip. His speech went through the roof after spending that time with them, too. He was already saying tons of words well, but after being around the other kids his clarity was noticeably better. He fell in LOVE with his two little girl cousins, Leighton and Addie. It was especially precious to watch him be so sweet to Addie who is 5 months old.

We will always treasure this vacation before everyone's big life changes.

Cades Cove 

Addie and Aunt Emmie

The cousins 

Cades Cove// Charlie + Leighton

We headed back to Wheaton on Friday, almost two weeks later. With that we had officially taken our longest trip as a family ever. I was so excited to share this trip with you, but also to "blog scrapbook" it for myself for years to come. We left this trip feeling so thankful - for parents who hosted us, a job that let us travel, a baby who slept well for the first time on vacation, for time to spend with family and friends, and for new exciting things ahead for the James kids.

If you thought that was all the excitement we had in April, stay tuned for another APRIL ADVENTURES post from when we went to CHICAGO with family last weekend! I will have a happy report of a much smoother trip this time around, and some new favorite food finds you have to do if you come to Chicago. 

Stay tuned for more adventures.
Emily

WORSHIP + READING PLAYLIST

I can't read in silence. I'm one of those people that needs noise to make me tune my mind to what I'm reading. Not only does it help me focus, but it has always been how I enjoyed to read most. I can remember this being true all the way back to high school and especially in college.  I would listen to my iPod with headphones whenever I had to study at school or in the super quiet library. Another one of my favorite things to do is to listen to music when I read on road trips. Just thinking about reading with my headphones in the warm car makes me want to travel right now. ;) It's always been the best way for me to enjoy reading even more.

It has even been so true that I have a couple of albums I associate directly with books I was reading when I listened for the first time. Isn't that funny?! Is anyone else like this too or is my mind just so music associative? I remember listening to the new (at the time) Adele album as I was reading Water for Elephants. I was flying to Florida with my parents and sister for vacation and now whenever I hear that album it always makes me think of that book, those sandy beaches, and the sunny balcony I spent so much time reading on during our summer vacation.

If you are like me when it comes to reading with music, yay I'm not alone in this! And this post is especially for you. If you think I'm weird and crazy and could never imagine reading AND listening to music at the same time, first of all, try it sometime and second of all, this playlist is still for you. Today I'm sharing the Spotify playlist I recently made for doing my Bible reading plan, and even if you don't want to listen while you read, these are songs you'll still want to add to your Jesus music repertoire. It's not a finished list in the least, but I've been loving it so far this year.

Just to name a few of the artists on the playlist:
Sovereign Grace Music
Audrey Assad
Bart Millard
Andrew Peterson
Shane & Shane

Some of my top favorites you will hear are "All Creatures of Our God and King," "All Glory Be to Christ," "O Praise the Name," "Prayer," and "Grace That Is Greater." So if nothing else, listen to those first.



This playlist will continue to grow and change throughout the year I'm sure. I would love to know your favorites right now too, so please drop them below in the comments.

Happy reading AND listening! 😊
-Emily

HOMEMADE PIZZA NIGHT + DELISH NO YEAST DOUGH RECIPE

I need to talk to y'all about pizza. My family could have pizza night once a week (and often times, we do haha). Anybody else? I guess it's pretty fitting that we moved to the pizza capital of the US - Chicago. Deep dish pizza really is all that it's talked up to be, guys. If you are ever in the Chicago area you n e e d to try Lou Malnati's or Geno's East for some amazing Chicago style pizza. It's so different than your regular pizzas out there. But that's not what this post is about. ;) It's about the fantastic pizza you can make at home!

I have made homemade pizzas in the past that were just average. Too much plain-tasting sauce. The crust was soggy in the middle. Not a whole lot of flavor. But THIS pizza was way way tastier and so easy, and definitely not average! My husband (who is a big pizza l o v e r) could not stop raving about my homemade pizza on Friday night. That's the best feeling as a wife!! And I do have to admit, I was really surprised myself because I have always been a canned pizza crust kind of girl but this was BETTER. 

What was so different about this pizza, you ask? 

The first thing we loved more about this pizza was the dough! 1) You don't need yeast!!! (so many praise hands), 2) it was fluffy and fully baked in the middle, 3) golden crispy on the bottom (not burnt or white/underbaked), and 4) it didn't taste like flavorless cardboard (as homemade dough sometimes does). Also, you don't have to pre-bake the dough before putting toppings on which is just another plus.

The second thing we loved was the sauce and it was so simple to put together. It was the most delicious, flavorful companion to that perfect dough. Here's how to make it!

HOMEMADE PIZZA SAUCE

Ingredients

1 jar of marinara sauce 

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp Italian seasoning

Directions

1. Bring all ingredients to a simmer in a sauce pan. 

Note: I actually had about 1/4 cup of sauce left over that I didn't put on the pizza. My husband likes to have a marinara dipping sauce so it worked perfectly to have some left over! Just use your own judgement on whether to use it all or not based on the size of your pizza - be generous with covering the dough minus about 1 inch around the edges, but as a general rule less is more here. 

NO YEAST PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE

Ingredients

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup milk (plus 2 tbsp more if your dough seems too dry to combine)

1/4 cup room temp/softened unsalted butter  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare baking sheet or pizza pan with nonstick spray.

2. Combine all dough ingredients in a bowl and mix until dough ball forms. I like to use my hands to crumble up the butter into pea-sized crumbles of butter + dough. (This is something I learned from my mother-in-law when making homemade biscuits. ;)

3. Roll dough ball out onto a floured surface with a rolling pin. This dough can be quite sticky at first! I rolled mine to be about 1/4 inch thick. (I didn't have the prettiest edges on this pizza, but I'll make that better next time!)

4. Move dough onto prepared baking sheet or pizza pan. Now it's time to add your pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings. 

*For toppings I used my homemade pizza sauce, a blend of Mexican and mozzarella shredded cheese, diced onions, green peppers, and pepperonis.*

5. Bake for 15 minutes until underneath dough is golden brown. 

And that's it! This recipe has officially been added to our favorites list and I can't wait to try it with other toppings. Stock up on your favorite pizza toppings and get this pizza cooking on your next Friday night, guys. You won't be disappointed!

Emily 

DIY VALENTINE'S DAY GARLAND

V A L E N T I N E ' S   D A Y is just around the corner! Whether you like Valentine's Day or not, you have to admit the decorations are kinda the cutest there ever was when it comes to holiday decor. Am I right?  I don't usually decorate our house for Valentine's Day, but this year I figured we should make a lil somethin' because Chicago Januarys are like 753 days long, and I needed some Valentine's Day cheer in my life.

If your kid is like mine, painting is fun for maybe 10 minutes max and then it either turns into a complete MESS or they are just over it. So I was trying to think of something that let him get a teeny tiny bit messy, but in a quick and contained way. This craft was exactly that and you DON'T have to be a super crafty mama to have this turn out adorable. And I bet you have all of the supplies already at home! It ended up being soo simple and GREAT for decorating, and I am excited to share this easy Valentine's Day garland with you all!

First, I cut heart shapes of various sizes and colors out of construction paper.

I tried two different painting methods. The first was the "no mess finger painting" with a ziplock bag. It was kind of a fail for us. Maybe I didn't put enough paint, but it didn't spread well. Then when I went to take the construction paper out of the bag, the paper stuck and tore slightly. It was still salvageable, but it was not my favorite method.

The other method was good ole paint brush and/or fingers. I used a piece of rolled up tape to hold the heart onto his tray and let him at it. YES, it was definitely more messy than this first picture I snapped so don't be fooled. 😂  This method ended up being way more fun for Charlie to do and, in my opinion, looked more artistic. But I would still suggest that you try both methods to see what works best for your little one.

The beautiful thing about this craft is that you don't even have to do paint. You can use stickers from the dollar store, glitter, pom poms, or glue smaller heart shapes to the big heart shapes. This craft is totally customizable to what you have on hand.

Once all of our painted hearts had dried, I used tape to hang them on a piece of twine, and ta dah! Our very own homemade Valentine's Day garland!

If you make this with your kiddos, I would love to see how it turned out! You can tag me in it or send it to me via Instagram (Username @emilyjamesy). 

Happy Valentine's Day friends!

Emily

FAVORITES FROM 2017

2017 absolutely flew by. Was it like that for you? I know people probably say that about every year that comes and goes, but really, THIS year FLEW by more than the others. I'm going to blame having a one-year-old growing right before my eyes and our big move to Illinois, but maybe it's just because I'm getting OLD? Could also be a three-way tie...

As a big wrap up, I thought I would blog some of my favorite things from the year. Favorite memory, kitchen item, book, make up, food, candle, vacation - just all across the board new favorites from my 2017. I love reading these kinds of blog posts. So in no particular order, here are my 2017 favorites.


Music: Audrey Assad
This was the year of Audrey for my husband and I. We took countless road trips to and from Louisville and Chicago and she was a regular on every trip. If you're looking for someone to listen to during your Bible reading time or just some new worship tunes, go listen to her Inheritance album right now. I listened to these three over and over this year and I linked them to Youtube for you: Abide With Me, Good to Me, and Holy, Holy, Holy. 

Vacation: Gatlinburg, Tennessee 
In May the three of us traveled from Louisville to Gatlinburg for a family vacation with my husband's whole family. We had just accepted the job at Crossway so it was such a relief to go on this trip and relax with family before coming home and preparing to move. This place has such a special spot in my heart.  We stayed in a huge cabin on the same street as the Apple Barn (if you've never been to GB or The Apple Barn, seriously GO). Needless to say, it was a great location!

Charlie's 1st Birthday 
On August 4th our baby boy turned ONE. We had already moved to Illinois by that time, so we traveled back to Kentucky for the weekend to celebrate with almost 40 people for his birthday party! It was so special to get to see so many of our family and friends to praise the Lord with us for the first year of Charlie's life. You can read my post about the whole party here. He took his first steps the same weekend as his first birthday, and he's been nonstop ever since.

Kitchen Tool: Immersion Blender(and Homemade Mayo)
I bought myself a Kitchen Aid Immersion Blender with a birthday gift card and it's becoming my favorite kitchen thing! I really got it to attempt a recipe for Whole 30 Mayo and let me tell y'all - it's the BEST mayo you will ever taste and so much healthier. I'll drop my recipe below. So far this mayo is all I've used the stick blender for, so if you have other recipes you like to use an immersion blender with send them my way!

Podcasts: Risen Motherhood 
This year I finally got on the Podcast train. The first one I listened to was Serial (I know, I'm only like years late but whatever). Serial was interesting but I was a little disappointed with the ending to be honest. My favorite podcast is definitely Risen Motherhood! Two sister-in-laws talk about a Christ-centered view of motherhood and daily life and often invite guest speakers on. I usually listen to a podcast while doing dishes, cooking, or in the car on road trips. What are your favorite podcasts of the year??

Concert: Ellie Holcomb(and getting to meet her!!) 
This is one of my most favorite little memories of 2017. So, on August 17th (the day after my birthday), I was just scrolling through Instagram stories while I was waiting for dinner to come out of the oven, when Ellie's came up. She said she was in Naperville for a free concert for women starting at 7 p.m. at a local church. My Naperville, IL? Free? In 45 minutes? I flipped out - could I make it in time!?  No worries that I had to scarf some food down (I didn't even have time to wait for the hot dinner I had cooking!). I rang up my new neighbor friend and she sweetly came along to the concert with me! It was one of those once in a lifetime, last minute, super fun things. And I got to meet her, hug her, and thank her for her music after the concert! 

Book: Wonder by R. J. Palacio 
When I was in college, I had several friends read and recommend this book (especially since we were becoming teachers), but I just never got around to it. Yall - it's amazing! It's a quick and easy read that every student, teacher, and parent needs to read. So glad I finally did! 

Make Up: Tarte Shape Tape
This is the BEST concealer. And it smells weridly good too (like licorice!). It retails for $27 at Ulta which I know is more expensive than what you would find at Target, but it lasts for a long time and is worth every penny if you need some coverage and eye brightening. 

Candle: Target Sun Kissed Soy Candle
Before this year I had exclusively bought Bath and Body Works candles for yearssss. I got this candle for a friend and then went back and got one for myself because when I smelled it burning in her house I had to have it! It's a soy candle (Bath and Body are not soy), and it burned so pleasantly and not super loudly (unlike Bath and Body, also). My only complaint was that it didn't burn evenly at all, but I was able to continue using it with a candle warmer. 

Day Trip to Chicago
About a month after we moved to Illinois we took our first train ride into Chicago! The train was a super fun experience but the hour long ride was about Charlie's limit. We walked around downtown, visited Millennium Park, ate Potbelly, and just enjoyed the great weather! Definitely want to go again when it warms up with a list of places to visit in mind. There are some amazing donut shops that I'm dying to try. Hopefully will do that in 2018 ;)

LUSH Sleepy Lotion
This is the most wonderful lavender vanilla lotion EVER. It's also a really pretty purple. I love to put this all over my hands, arms, and legs before bed. The smell really does soothe and make you sleepy. I just ran out and I've been missing it at night so I need to stock up on that again soon!

& being a momma!
Are one-year-olds not the most fun thing in the world?? GOSH. It really is true that becoming a parent opens up a whole new part of your heart that you didn't even know was there and could love another person. Next month Charlie will officially be one and a half. He talks ALL the time. He loves any kind of ball or cooking thing. Some days I feel like we already have a two-year-old on our hands (the independence and the tantrums!!!). Since his first birthday he has cut all 4 pre-molars and now 3 canine teeth, but he's such a good sport about life even though I can tell his gums hurt him A LOT.  He's a little trooper. 

2017 was the first full year of being a parent, and boy am I happy to be called Mom. :) 

I wish you all the best 2018! 

Emily